What does "green hydrogen" energy mean and what can we use it for?

Generally speaking, hydrogen often appears in those topics about clean energy. It is habitually described as a completely colorless chemical that burns cleanly and can be used as a substitute for coal, oil or natural gas. But for the use of hydrogen to have environmental benefits, it must be produced in a clean way, not from fossil fuels.

"Brown hydrogen" extracted from coal has been used to power cities since the early 1800s, a process in which chemicals in the coal react to produce so-called synthesis gas, which contains carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen , methane and ethylene, and small amounts of other gases. However, although people can extract hydrogen from this mixture relatively easily, the resulting environmental pollution is relatively serious.

"Green hydrogen" does not come from any type of fossil fuel, it is obtained through renewable resources. "Green hydrogen" made from wind and solar power could become a faster and cheaper transition to energy than expected, according to energy market analysts.

Among them, a Chinese manufacturer has successfully developed the electrolysis system, which can use renewable energy to produce hydrogen at an 80% lower cost than before. At these prices, hydrogen will be the best way to store solar or wind energy, as well as provide more and more industrial uses.

A tax on CO2 emissions is the best way to trigger a transition to clean energy, for example: $50/tCO2 would be enough to switch the steelmaking industry from coal to hydrogen by 2050. If the price reaches $60/ton CO2, hydrogen energy will be the best way to make cement. At a price of $145/tCO2, it makes economic sense to power ships with hydrogen. If the cost of hydrogen falls to $1/kg, it will also be cheaper to power heavy trucks with hydrogen than diesel by 2031.

It can be seen that hydrogen energy is crucial to the future of energy and decarbonization, but not all hydrogen energy sources are suitable for this transition. So we need to accelerate the transition to clean hydrogen energy. It is believed that "green hydrogen" energy is most likely to be used as energy storage and more and more industrial production processes in the future.